Key Takeaways
• Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are planning to introduce a single tourist visa.
• This visa, similar to the Schengen one, will permit entry to all these five countries for a short period.
• GCC countries will soon also launch a single visa.
Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have announced plans to simplify the movement of foreign travelers within their territories without the need to apply for separate documents.
Just recently, the authorities of the five countries agreed to start working on the launch of a single Schengen-style visa, VisaGuide.World reports.
The launch of this visa would mean that travelers will not need a separate visa for each country. Instead, the new single visa will enable them to enter Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe without needing any other additional documents.
Zambia and Zimbabwe already have a so-called “univisa”, which permits its holders to enter the two countries with the same document as well as permits short stays to Botswana.
However, in order for the “univisa” to include more countries and make the experience of this part of the continent more convenient and enjoyable, an expansion to include Angola and Zimbabwe will soon take place.
Commenting on the plans to introduce a Schengen-style visa that will permit entry to Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the authorities said that the main aim of this move is to attract more visitors.
They believe that the single visa will make the countries more attractive as the holders of the document will not have to worry about applying for multiple visas. Travelers will also be able to explore more countries during a single stay without spending much on flights to reach the area at different times of the year.
GCC Countries Will Soon Launch a Single Visa, Too
In addition to the countries mentioned above, GCC countries - UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait - will also soon launch a single visa.
The GCC countries have decided to name their single visa “GCC Grand Tours”. On the basis of this visa, travelers will be able to stay in the territory of the GCC countries for more than 30 days without having to undergo any other procedures.
The “GCC Grand Tours” visa will work similarly to the Schengen visa. This means that if a foreigner gets issued a visa from one of the GCC countries, they will be able to enter the others too without having to apply for a separate visa.
The authorities of the GCC countries have noted that this type of visa will help them to retain tourists. Moreover, they stressed that this visa will help the GCC countries to become more popular destinations.

The department needs to establish authenticity before granting spousal or relative visas
A major headache for the department of home affairs in processing temporary residence visas is having to establish the authenticity of relationships claimed between individuals.
Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed this in a written reply to a parliamentary question by DA MP Thembisile Khanyile who asked about the current backlog of processing applications for temporary residence visas .

The rising cost of living has bumped up the number of people at risk of poverty in the country to 12.7 million .
`I can`t make ends meet`. This is a phrase that is heard more and more frequently among the people of Spain. Rising food prices, the supply chain crisis and the war in Ukraine have further widened the gap between the cost of living and the salary that many workers in Spain receive at the end of the month.

This imbalance between income and expenditure has led to a significant loss of purchasing power, which economists estimate to be around 1,200 euros. This has meant that almost half of the adult population, 48.7%, find it difficult to make ends meet and are limping towards payday. The statistics are revealed in the XIV report on `The State of Poverty in Spain` by the European Anti-Poverty Network in Spain (EAPN-ES).

This research includes for the first time an analysis of the relationship between poverty and access to housing. `The scarcity of affordable rents and the difficulties in acquiring a property increase inequalities and contribute to the persistence of social exclusion`, the report states. Indeed, housing-related expenses are the main drag on economic recovery for households.

Rent payments represent a high percentage of the monthly outlay of families living in Spain. `The average price has increased almost three times more than the income per person, which means a greater economic effort and a worsening of poverty`, stresses the report.

Therefore, the number of people at risk of poverty and/or social exclusion in Spain has reached 12.7 million people, some 400,000 more than last year and half a percentage point more than in 2022. `This is due to the rising cost of living,` confirmed the report`s authors.

Families with children are hardest hit by the rising cost of living, with child poverty rising from 27.8% to 28.9% compared to the previous year: some 2.3 million children and adolescents are at risk of poverty. In this regard, EAPN-ES points out that there are no poor children without poor homes, insisting also that being born into a vulnerable household increases the chances of staying poor in adulthood.
The face of poverty: women and young people

In Spain, poverty has a woman`s face, not because the rules of the Spanish language dictate that it is a feminine noun (`la pobreza`), but because this precarious state of affairs affects more women and young people than anyone else. `The data show that the feminisation of poverty is a structural problem`, said EAPN-ES.

Last year 5.1 million women were classed as poor, some 300,000 more women than men, and this is due to the continuing gender gap in the world of work. Research by EAPN-ES shows that having precarious, less stable employment doubles the risk of poverty.

Therefore, in 2023 around 2.5 million working people were poor. This is mainly due to the quality of the labour market that, despite the improvements resulting from the latest labour reform and the increase in the minimum wage, is still characterised by instability, affecting women and young people in particular.

Despite the worrying figures, EAPN-ES stresses that the situation would be much worse without the protective action of central government, which helps to prevent 10.6 million people from falling into poverty and some 2.4 million into severe poverty. EAPN-ES also highlights the essential role of public pensions as a factor in sustaining the quality of life for a part of the population: pensions alone reduce the risk of poverty by 16.4 points, i.e. some 7.8 million people. However, EAPN-ES proposes they should increase and extend the policies implemented in recent years and, above all, to extend the measures of the state`s `social shield` of support that expires on 30 June, `especially those focused on the most vulnerable groups.`

Woes within South Africa’s visa processes have left businesses and skilled workers in limbo, hurting investment and business activity as a result.

Recently, French diplomats warned that South Africa’s strict visa requirements are driving investors away.

In addition to this, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger, said that a key obstacle attracting investment and expanding business is “the broken South African visa regime.”

“To facilitate foreign investment, companies need to be able to easily access South Africa and those who apply for critical skills visas typically help to develop new and existing sectors, in line with international best practice or by helping to new industries through skills development,” said Wegner.

Companies aiming to operate in the country must invest a minimum of R5 million and ensure at least 60% of their employees are South African.

However, applying for a work visa has often been described as a lengthy and complex process, exacerbated by an inefficient paper-based system that may take months.

Once those abovementioned boxes are ticked, the process is likely to be stalled by an existing backlog in visa applications.

Recently, the Western Cape government said that over 4,500 jobs and R1.6 billion in economic value are at risk of being destroyed due to continued backlogs and delays at Home Affairs in processing visas.

“These delays relate to processing and finalising of a small number of critical skills, spousal work visas, spousal, life partner, and permanent residency visa applications for training experts, who are needed to upskill and train employees in the sector, thereby enabling the creation of more South African jobs,” said Wegner.

The Western Cape Government previously conducted a survey to gauge the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of South Africa’s visa application process.

They engaged with around 150 business in sectors including ICT/Technology/Software service, tourism, finance and business services, manufacturing, agriculture and business process outsourcing.

A critical finding of this survey was that 78% of respondents rated the immigration application system in South Africa as “very poor” compared to other countries the respondents have operations in.

Another finding was that 26% of businesses moved their operations overseas as a result of the serious challenges they faced with the national visa system.

Other key results of the survey include:

Reasons for Visa Requirement:

Work purposes, particularly for employing critical skills not available in South Africa, and for businesses needing to employ foreign staff.

Top Three Visas Applied For:

Work visa (19%)
Critical skills work visa (18%)
Immigration visa (15%)

Top Three Complaints/Issues with Visa Application System:

Delays in approval process (17%)
Applicants not receiving feedback on applications (14%)
Lack of an escalation mechanism for complaints (10%)

Impact on Businesses Affected by Visa Application System:

Time delays (25%)
Cost implications (22%)
Inability to hire required skilled workers (21%)

Top Three Measures Taken by Respondents to Address Challenges:

Moving operations abroad (26%)
Employing fewer staff (17%)
Scaling down operations (17%)

“The fact is that the current visa regime is a significant deterrent to investment and the expansion of existing businesses, costing jobs and economic growth right at a time when we can ill-afford to lose either,” said Wenger.

In hopes of easing these constraints recent regulations replaced the highly-contested critical skills list with a new points-based system and introduced the remote work visa class.

This was received positively by businesses in South Africa, with the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa saying that they should ease the administrative burden that international companies with businesses in the country face when hiring skilled foreigners.

Thirteen Bangladeshis and three Pakistanis were found to be in possession of fake visitors’ visas, while one Bangladeshi, a Nigerian, three Pakistanis and four Ghanaians, failed to meet the entry requirements on arrival.

Twenty-five foreigners were intercepted and deported by Border Management Authority (BMA) immigration officials at OR Tambo International Airport (Ortia) on Tuesday night trying to enter South Africa illegally.
Thirteen Bangladeshis and three Pakistanis were found to be in possession of fake visitors’ visas, while one Bangladeshi, a Nigerian, three Pakistanis and four Ghanaians failed to meet the entry requirements on arrival.
They were intercepted on flights from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ghana and Nigeria.
The BMA said they were deported back in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations.
“[The] ICAO provide global standards for air transport operations and highlight that a person who entered a state illegally or denied entry shall be returned to their countries of origin by the respective airlines that brought them to South Africa and shall bear the costs of that travel,” it said.
According to the BMA, Ortia has been a target with travellers attempting to enter the country illegally.
On Sunday, five Bangladeshis and five Ethiopians were intercepted in collaboration with the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa).
BMA commissioner Michael Masiapato has warned travellers in contravention of the Immigration Act.
He commended the operations by BMA officials at Ortia, saying as the biggest and busiest airport in Africa, detection systems need to be advanced.
“The diligence and professionalism displayed by our team have prevented potential security threats and upheld the rule of law. We will continue to enhance our capabilities and escalate co-operation with Acsa security as well as collaborate with international partners to address and combat such illicit activities,” Masiapato said.
Acsa regional GM Jabulani Khambule said the latest interceptions of illegal travellers by the BMA demonstrate the importance of their multi-agency safety and security approach to enhance airport and aviation security.
“The aviation security model is vertically and horizontally integrated with various law enforcement authorities and is important to root out criminality at our airports.”
The BMA said it will intensify operations with the deployment of an additional 400 junior border guards who started duty on June 1 at various ports of entry.